RYAN Leonard hailed Ryan Longman’s winning goal against Leicester as “one of the best” he’s seen in a game he’s taken part in.
Just before the hour mark, Ryan Longman cut inside and drove a spectacular effort at goal which clipped the underside of the crossbar on its way in.
The strike was enough to seal a superb 1-0 victory for Millwall and was Longman’s third for the club since he joined on loan from Hull City last summer.
Leonard said: “I think that’s one of the best goals I’ve seen in a game I’ve played in.
“When he’s got the ball and cut inside… to be fair he did it earlier in the season against Rotherham but that was more of a tap-in than this one. The fact that it’s glanced the bar and gone in made it even better.
“It was a hell of a strike by Longy, fair play to him. It was fitting for the performance and fitting for the game. It’s a goal worthy of winning any game of football.”
The 31-year-old defender also, unprompted, praised the brilliant goal-line clearance of Billy Mitchell as the midfielder spectacularly denied Kelechi Iheanacho in stoppage time.
He said: “One thing I want to mention is Billy Mitchell’s block at the end. For me that was as good as the goal. It was an incredible block and it just summed up the whole performance. I’m really happy for Billy.”
Leonard showed off his defensive excellence again as he successfully shackled Stephy Mavididi, one of the Championship’s best wingers. The 25-year-old has 12 goals and five assists this season for the Foxes but hardly got a sniff at The Den.
Leonard said: “It’s a player that we’ve tried to study and I’ve tried to look at what he does and what he’s good at. He’s probably one of the best wingers in the whole league.
“He’s a very good player but I try and back myself in one-v-one defending and it’s one of those where thankfully it worked and we got the result.”